The Church of Saint John Abbey

From sportive mode to a cultural sightseeing tour

2014 brought some very nice bicycle tours. On a trip from Munich to South Tyrol where I visited friends I reached a small village in a valley that directly connects the regions of Engadin and South Tyrol. From this place the border between Switzerland and Italy is just a few hundred meters to the East.

At that already elevated point I had planned to climb another 1,484 m / 4,870 ft and then enjoy the ride down the Stelvio Pass road back to Vinschgau Valley. Only my muscles were still a little bit tired from the Reschen Pass that I had climbed the day before. So here at the foot of Umbrail Pass I decided to call it a day and have a look around instead.

The church

Embedded in a beautiful mountainous landscape lies one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Switzerland with a history going back to the Middle Ages. Built in the Carolingian period around the year 800 the Christian monastery later gave name (in the local language) to both the village Müstair as well as the whole valley Val Müstair. Today it is known as the Benedictine Convent of St John (or Claustra Son Jon in the local language Romansh) and here inside the church a contemporary sculpture of the founder Charlemagne can be seen right beside the altar.

A taste of regional cuisine

Later that day I produced some delicious apricot jam (known as Marillenmarmelade) using the local Venostan apricots. What a great day, ranking high in my personal 2014 Best Of list.

Not far away on the same day...

Markus took the bus instead and almost at the same time he shot his contribution for the Ruins event "just around the corner" up at the Stilfser Joch.

Europe / Switzerland

Lat: 46° 37' 47.83" N
Long: 10° 26' 55.224" E

Elevation: 1.267 m (4,157 ft)

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

• Nikon D800E / Walimex f3.5 8mm

• Philopod

• Hugin 2014.0.0 / Pano2VR 4.5.1 / Photoshop CS6

• my bike